Hot answers tagged maintenance
27
Kosher salt and a small amount of vegetable oil. Scrub the pan with the salt on a rag or paper towel, if there are stubborn bits mix a couple drops of oil with the salt, wipe dry with clean towel. If you use a wet method to clean the pan re-heat it after cleaning to make sure it is completely dry before storing.
24
You should use both. Knives have a very thin ragged edge (the burr) that is too small to see, which gets pushed over from use, and which makes the knife seem dull. A honing steel straightens this burr out. I use a honing steel before I cook every day.
Over time, the burr wears down, or can no longer be straightened. At this point, you will need to use the ...
21
Ideally it should be matte to just-slightly-shiny black and very smooth. This article has some terrific information on the ideal oil to use (flaxseed) and method for seasoning, with actual scientific grounding.
18
Besides what @Janelle said, for really stuck on stuff, use a similar process as you'd use to deglaze the pan --
While the pan's still hot (or heat it back up if you've let it cool), and then add some cold water. Some should instantly steam, and should hopefully be hot enough to boil a little. (don't add so much water that you cool down the pan).
Scrape ...
17
Ceramic blades can only be sharpened against something that is harder than it is. I would recommend sending it back to the manufacturer for sharpening if needed. Typically it is done using a very hard abrasive wheel because of the risk of the blade breaking, you do not want to do this without proper safety equipment.
13
"Better" might be a matter of interpretation. The oils will behave a bit differently, however.
Mineral Oil is a non-drying oil, which means that it will not polymerize (form a plastic-like substance) over time. This is good for oiling cutting boards because it will stay a bit liquid in the wood and flow into cracks and scratches. It is also food-safe and ...
11
Another alternative is to go to an East Asian grocery and pick up a wok cleaner, which looks like a tiny little broom made of stiff sticks. It does more-or-less the same thing as the coarse salt. I find it particularly useful for cast iron grill pans, as it's easier to get leverage on burnt-on material than when using salt. It'll cost you maybe two dollars ...
11
I'm still happily using a non-stick frying pan that I've had for almost 4 years.
I only use Teflon utensils.
I never use harsh abrasives.
After cooking, I fill it with boiling water, let it soak for a while and then wipe out with paper towels. Most of the time I just give it a quick rinse and it's ready for the next time.
And buy quality - "Quality is ...
10
Well your chef's knife should constitute about 90% of your usage I'd say. It should be used for slicing, dicing just about anything. Your paring knife is actually the 3-4" one you describe. Paring knives are typically used for delicate tasks like, coring apples, peeling, and some people use it for mincing garlic because it's so small.
I've never seen a 2" ...
9
Here are a few rules I follow with my own knives.
Don't put your knives in the dishwasher. Hand wash and dry immediately after use.
Store knives where they won't be banging up against other hard things: my favorite is in a wooden knife block.
If you must store your knives in a drawer, protect the edge. You can use a commercial solution like this guy, or ...
8
I've never heard of milk being used to season a pan and so I am a little skeptical of it.
Pan seasoning is always done with fat that is heated until it polymerizes. This creates a very hard non-stick surface that makes cooking easier and protects the pan from rust.
See this question for more about how to season your pan:
What's the best way to season ...
7
We use tap water + a cheap plastic-bristled kitchen scrub brush to get all of the food bits off. Then put it on medium heat on the stove until it's dry. The heat will sterilize for you. Why medium heat? Someone told me it's better for the pan than using high heat. It sounds logical but I have absolutely no real proof.
6
That is just the seasoning - the nonstick carbon that is formed after years of use - coming off. If big pieces are dropping in your food or you are freaked out by it, simply give your pan a good scrubbing with some steel wool and soap then re-season it.
To season the pan:
Take a paper towel and soak a bit of oil into it
Coat the inside of the pan with oil
...
6
Toxic?
Neither the seasoning (which is essentially polymerized fat) nor the rust (which is... rust) is harmful in small quantities. Of course, I would not eat either by the spoonful.
Spray oil as seasoning fat?
See the many questions on seasoning, but cooking spray is far from ideal as a seasoning fat, as it contains emulsifiers and such, and tends to be ...
5
While ceramic knives will stay sharp for quite awhile, there is no such thing as "never needs sharpening". In our knife shop we use a diamond system that we developed to bring these knives back to their original sharpness. (or sometimes sharper!) One could try one of the diamond block type, sharpeners on the market but the ceramics are difficult to get the ...
5
Michael's answer is fabulous, but one other note: as long as the seasoning works and achieves the desired effect, it is good seasoning. I have a variety of shapes/sizes of cast iron that I love, and few of them have the delightful smooth seasoning that it is POSSIBLE to get.
I have seasoned pans with a variety of oils, both n the range and in the oven. The ...
5
One of the very best investments I've ever made in a kitchen tool is this Chefs Choice knife sharpener. It is motorized and has three levels of wheel - one for grinding out really bad knicks, one for sort of once-a-month resharpening and one for everyday honing that will leave your blade razor sharp. The angle guides make it nearly impossible to use wrong.
...
5
Don't ever leave your knives wet, keep a towel handy and dry the blade regularly while working, especially after slicing acid foods such as tomatoe, citrus, etc.
Hand wash your knives and don't set them down until they have been dried.
Purchase a fine (as opposed to coarse) steel and learn how to use it, half dozen licks every once in a while on a well kept ...
5
It won't suffer much from having a millimeter or two of material removed in one area, so I'd just go ahead with the Dremel and grind it down to clean stone rather than resorting to chemicals that may or may not work and may or may not impregnate the stone. There's no substance made short of diamonds that can resist a grinding wheel. Worst case is you end ...
4
There's a difference between sharpening and honing your knifes. If your knives need sharpening, you should take it to a professional. After a few years of moderate use, it's probably time. Michael has a good suggestion, but only if you plan on sharpening your knives often enough to make it worth it. For regular maintenance, you want to use a honing steel on ...
4
Get them professionally sharpened regularly, there is no substitute for that.
Hone them every time before you use them, don't cut on a hard surface (such as a marble or the like)
Some knives like the Wusthof knives I have will lose their sharpness quite quickly other's like Global are meant to keep it for a bit longer, so different knives mean different ...
4
Absolutely. A honer, or even better a sharpening steel removes a minuscule amount of material. Or knife will last a lifetime.
The honer only realigns the blade, it doesn't remove material and reestablish a true bevel.
Eventually, you'll use the honer and it won't do anything, thats when you use the sharpener.
Realize though, that the electric ...
4
I have a lot of canned food and have gone through my share of can openers. I'm generally OK with a rusty can opener, but I don't like the rust flakes getting into my food. I can't bear that metallic taste.
While I don't mind buying a new can opener (they sell them at the dollar general for two dollars), but I find it a bit wasteful.
This may sound a bit ...
4
Silkscreening ink is made to withstand scratching. So I wouldn't go the dremel route.
The first I would try to do is to transfer it again somewhere else, to something more porous/sticky than the pizza stone. The best thing would probably be blotting paper, if you can get it, but if not, try other types of non-glossy paper. Heat the stone again, then put ...
4
If your experience is anything like mine the pizza stone won't survive long enough to bother maintaining it. Maybe I need to find a thicker stone, but the three we've bought so far have all cracked through normal (even light) use.
That said, if your pizza stone is worth the effort, I'd recommend a "burn it off" approach vs an orbital sander.
3
I don't have an answer to your "choice of material" question, though I would tend to believe stainless steel is your best bet.
However, for preventing rust: Try cranking a paper towel through the spokes after you use and/or wash it, if that's where the rust is accumulating. It cleans and dries them very well, and I don't know if it's what's preventing ...
3
You can definitely sharpen a ceramic blade and do it by yourself. But due to the fact that the ceramic is super hard material you'll need more patience than with steel. Get a DMT or Lansky sharpening guide and diamond stones. You can use the diamond stones on either type of knife and the guides will keep you at the correct angle on both side of the blade. ...
3
Here's a video on how to hone your knife, just as Mike explains it:
http://www.epicurious.com/video/technique-videos/technique-videos-knife-skills/1915458779/knife-skills-how-to-sharpen-a-knife/1915433332
The honing keeps your knife sharp from day-to-day. But over time a dullness still accumulates that can't be fixed with honing. So you should have your ...
3
I run mine under cold water and gently scrub it with a brush to remove any large stuck-on bits (it's well seasoned, so nothing really sticks to it). Then I stick it on the stove on high and when it's good and hot, I rub it down with a paper towel that's been dipped in Crisco or vegetable oil. This kills any germs, removes any fine bits that might be stuck, ...
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